Archive for the ‘Gopher Hockey’ Category

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MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) - Gopher Hockey senior forward Travis Boyd has been named the Big Ten First Star of the Week following his four-point performance in Minnesota’s sweep of Bemidji State.The Hopkins, Minn., scored three goals - including both game winners - and added an assist in the first home series of the year for the Gophers and was one of four Minnesota players to tally four points on the weekend.

The senior kicked off the weekend with a pair of special-teams goals in Minnesota’s 5-2 win over the Beavers, making Boyd the first Gopher since Jordan Schroeder in 2010 to score a power-play goal and a short-handed goal in the same game. The two-goal performance for Boyd marked his first career multi-goal game.

The forward followed up with an assist on Connor Reilly’s 5-on-3 goal in Saturday’s first period and came through in the third period with a power-play goal of his own for the deciding goal. Minnesota went on to win the game 5-3.

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (GopherSports.com) - Senior captain Kyle Rau tallied a game-high three points including his 125th career point as the top-ranked Gophers picked up a 4-3 win over Minnesota Duluth on Friday afternoon in the regular-season opener.Minnesota (1-0-0 overall, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) will now play in the Ice Breaker Tournament championship game on Sunday at Compton Family Ice Arena against either Notre Dame or RPI. Game time will be determined based off Friday night’s RPI/Notre Dame matchup - 11 a.m. CT should RPI win or 2:30 p.m. CT should Notre Dame win.

On Friday afternoon, the Gophers wasted little time in finding the net for the first goal of the season as Rau fed senior forward Sam Warning for the year’s first score just 30 seconds into the contest on the team’s first shot. Just over five minutes later at 5:44, Rau netted a goal of his own in similar fashion after being set up by Hudson Fasching - this time with the Maroon & Gold shorthanded.

Rau’s goal marked his 125th career point for Minnesota - making the senior forward just the 49th player in team history to reach the mark and the first since Jay Barriball (2006-2011). Rau would later add his third point of the day with an assist on Fasching’s eventual game winner, giving the Eden Prairie, Minn., native 126 points (48 goals, 78 assists) in 122 career games.

While the Gophers sported a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, the Bulldogs (0-1-0 overall, 0-0-0 NCHC) actually outshot Minnesota 11-6 in the opening session while the two teams would go shot for shot over the next 40 minutes - each with six shots in the second and 10 in the third to end the game with a 27-22 advantage for Minnesota Duluth.

Last year’s leading goal scorer Justin Kloos made it a three-goal lead with his first of the year 4:01 into the second period on a power play after being set up by Michael Brodzinski and Ben Marshall. Kloos scored 16 goals as a rookie last year - the first freshman to lead the team in goals since Barriball in 2006.

From there, the game would tighten for the duration. Dominic Toninato scored his first of two goals for the day at 13:21 of the second on the power play before Fasching found the net for the eventual winner at 18:45 of the second. Rau and Brodzinski picked up assists on the goal - giving Rau his seventh-career game with at least three points while Brodzinski matched his career high with two points and recorded two assists for the first time in his career.

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DETROIT- Gopher Hockey will head into the 2014-15 campaign as the Big Ten’s preseason favorite, the conference announced on Wednesday at the 2015 Big Ten Hockey Media Day at Joe Louis Arena. Minnesota also led all conference schools with five selections to the annual Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch list.The defending Big Ten regular-season champions and national runner-up at the Frozen Four, Minnesota led the preseason coaches’ poll, followed by Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State.

Additionally, Kyle Rau, Adam Wilcox, Mike Reilly, Sam Warning and Brady Skjei representing the Maroon & Gold on the preseason watch list. A total of 16 Big Ten players earned recognition on the list including six unanimous choices - three of them being Gophers (Rau, Wilcox, Reilly).

A Second Team All-American, Wilcox returns to the Gophers as the defending Big Ten Player & Goaltender of the Year as well as a First Team All-Big Ten selection and a finalist for both the Hobey Baker Award and the Mike Richter Award. Also a Second Team All-American, Rau led the Gophers with 40 points last season and earned Second Team All-Big Ten accolades. The senior will serve as team captain for the Maroon & Gold this year.

After being named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-Big Ten selection, Reilly went on to become the first Gopher to earn First Team All-America honors since 2009 (Ryan Stoa). Warning and Skjei were both recognized as All-Big Ten Honorable Mention recipients last year following a season that saw both set new career highs for scoring.

The 94th season of Gopher Hockey will see the Maroon & Gold look to defend the inaugural Big Ten regular-season conference title. Minnesota has won three-straight regular-season crowns entering the 2014-15 campaign and has reached the NCAA Frozen Four in two of the last three seasons including a national runner-up finish last year in Philadelphia. Minnesota opens the season with an exhibition game against the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology at Mariucci Arena on Oct.

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MINNEAPOLIS -The Gopher Hockey program and head coach Don Lucia have announced that Eden Prairie, Minn., native Nick Seeler has joined the program. Per NCAA transfer rules, Seeler must sit out the 2014-15 season and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.The Minnesota Wild’s fifth-round pick (131st overall) in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Seeler comes to the University of Minnesota after two seasons with the Omaha Mavericks. The defenseman totaled 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 70 games with the program over the last two years. Prior to Omaha, Seeler split the 2011-12 season between Muskegon and Des Moines in the USHL - totaling 28 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 58 games. He was a member of the 2011-12 USHL All-Rookie Team.

Seeler helped Eden Prairie win a pair of Minnesota Class AA State Championships in 2009 and 2011 and was high school teammates with current Gophers Kyle Rau and Mitch Rogge as well as Gophers alum Nick Leddy. As a senior, the defenseman was a first team all-state pick, an all-metro first team honoree a member of the All-Lake Conference team. Seeler was also named to the all-tournament team after leading all defensemen with six points in three games.

One of three children of Dan and Kris Seeler to play for the Gophers, Seeler joins older sisters, Ashley and Kelly — Ashley was a member of the Gopher women’s soccer program while Kelly was part of the Gopher women’s hockey program that won a national title in 2012. Dan Seeler also played soccer and hockey at St. Scholastica.

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MINNEAPOLIS - The 94th season of Gopher Hockey will kick off this October as the University of Minnesota looks to defend its Big Ten regular-season championship and return to the NCAA Frozen Four for the third time in four years.Minnesota, in conjunction with the Big Ten Conference, announced its full 36-game regular-season schedule on Thursday, including the team’s 20-game conference slate leading up to the 2015 Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament in Detroit.

For the first time since 2009-10, the Gophers will open the season on the road at Notre Dame for the 2014 Ice Breaker Tournament Oct. 10-12. In its second-straight appearance at the event, Minnesota will defend its Ice Breaker Tournament (won last year at Mariucci Arena) against Minnesota Duluth before playing either RPI or Notre Dame.

The Gophers open the 21st season at Mariucci Arena the following weekend against Bemidji State (Oct. 24-25) before taking on St. Cloud State (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) in a home-and-home series for a rematch of the 2014 NCAA West Regional final. Notre Dame then visits the Twin Cities for a non-conference series (Nov. 7-8) followed by a home-and-home series with Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 14-15). Minnesota will then head to the east coast to face Boston College Nov. 28 and Northeastern Nov. 29.

The Gophers kick off Big Ten play Dec. 5-6 with a trip to East Lansing to face Michigan State before the winter break and then start up again with the 24th Annual Mariucci Classic Jan. 2-3 with the Maroon & Gold hosting UMass-Lowell, RIT and Merrimack.

Minnesota returns to Big Ten action at Michigan* (Jan. 8-10) with the first conference home series of the year coming against Wisconsin* (Jan. 15-17).

The Gophers close out the non-conference schedule by defending their North Star College Cup title at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Jan. 23-24. The second annual event will see Minnesota take on Minnesota State in one semifinal while Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State play in the other.

A road series at Wisconsin* (Jan. 29-31) follows the North Star College Cup with a home series against Ohio State* (Feb. 5-7) the next weekend. Michigan** comes to Mariucci Arena on Feb. 12-15 before the Gophers travel to State College to take on Penn State* (Feb. 19-21)

Minnesota’s regular season rounds out with a home series against Michigan State** (Feb. 26-March 1), a road trip to play the Buckeyes (March 6-7) and the regular-season home finale against the Nittany Lions (March 13-14).

The 2015 Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament is scheduled for March 19-21 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit with NCAA regional action a week later. The 2014-15 NCAA season culminates with the Frozen Four in Boston April 9-11.

The 2014-15 season marks head coach Don Lucia’s 15th season at Minnesota and 28th season as a Division I head coach. Lucia owns a 651-344-94 all-time coaching record with his 651 career wins standing as the 10th most all-time in NCAA history. Lucia also holds a 372-189-65 record at Minnesota and needs just 18 wins to match Doug Woog (390) for Minnesota’s all-time coaching wins record.

Minnesota’s first campaign in the Big Ten Conference was an outstanding success for the program. Backstopped by Big Ten Player and Goaltender of the Year and All-American Adam Wilcox, the Gophers captured the inaugural Big Ten regular-season championship and claimed a 28-7-6 overall record. Kyle Rau and Mike Reilly joined Wilcox as All-Americans while the Gophers earned the team’s 35th NCAA tournament berth and later advanced to the 21st Frozen Four in Minnesota history. The Maroon & Gold ended the season as the national runner-up with a talented lineup looking forward to more success in 2014-15.

Schedule subject to change. Game times and television schedule will be announced at a later date.

*One of this two-game series will be played on Friday while the other will be played on Thursday or Saturday.

**Series will be played Thursday/Friday, Friday/Saturday or Saturday Sunday.